- add 'extra_preargs' and 'extra_postargs' parameters (and use them!)
  - added 'compiler_type' class attribute
  - respect reordered arguments to 'gen_lib_options()'

  which allowed us to get rid of the 'build_info' used in some places
  (a temporary kludge to support MSVC++ "def" files).
Deleted big comment whining about that kludge.
Added 'compiler_type' class attribute.
Overhauled 'new_compiler()': now takes 'compiler' argument along with
  'plat' (both optional with sensible defaults), and looks them both up
  in the new 'default_compiler' and 'compiler_class' dictionaries to
  figure out where to get the concrete compiler class from.
Reordered arguments to 'gen_lib_options()' to match the order in
  which the arguments are generated (ie. -L before -l).

  - deal with empty tail from os.path.split() (eg. from trailing slash,
    or backslash, or whatever)
  - check PATH_CREATED hash inside loop as well

  they make sure that 'set_final_options()' has been called, but isn't
  called redundantly.
Changed Distribution to call 'ensure_ready()' where it used to call
  'set_final_options()', and in a few extra places as well.
Lots of comment/docstring revisions and additions in both classes.
New one-liner utility methods in Command: 'find_peer()', 'spawn()'.

ignore zero-byte files: grr...).

  'alias_options' table and getting rid of some hairy code in the
  Distribution constructor.
Resurrected the distribution options that describe the modules present
  in the module distribution ('py_modules', 'ext_modules'), and added
  a bunch more: 'packages', 'package_dir', 'ext_package', 'include_dirs',
  'install_path'.
Updated some comments.
Added 'warn()' method to Command.
'Command.get_command_name()' now stores generated command name in
  self.command_name.

Added global cache PATH_CREATED used by 'mkpath()' to ensure it doesn't
  try to create the same path more than once in a session (and, more
  importantly, to ensure that it doesn't print "creating X" more than
  once for each X per session!).

in dry-run mode.

  distributions their own directory (and .pth file).
Overhauled how we determine installation directories in
  'set_final_options()' to separate platform-dependence and take
  'install_path' option into account.
Added 'create_path_file()' to create path config file when 'install_path'
  given.
Only run 'install_py' and 'install_ext' when, respectively, there are
  some pure Python modules and some extension modules in the distribution.

have extension modules.

  - rename 'dir' to 'build_dir'
  - take 'package' from distribution option 'ext_package'
  - take 'extensions' from distribution option 'ext_modules'
  - take 'include_dirs' from distribution
Name keyword args explictly when calling CCompiler methods.
Overhauled how we generate extension filenames (in 'extension_filename()
  and 'build_extension()') to take 'package' option into account.

packages and searching for source files by 'package_dir'.

so that pure Python modules are installed to the platform-specific
directory if there are any extension modules in this distribution.

  specific files; it was somewhat broken, and the comments were dead
  wrong.
Now runs 'install_ext' command after 'install_py'.

actual extension module to.

Default platform-specific build directory changed to 'build/platlib'.

Changed those two methods to only compile/link if necessary (according
  to simplistic timestamp checks).
Added 'output_dir' to 'object_filenames()' and 'shared_object_filename()'.

Terminology change in 'newer()'.
Made 'copy_tree' respect dry_run flag a little better.
Added 'move_file()'.

  signatures, and updated some docstrings to reflect it.
Some comments added.
Added 'announce()' and 'move_file()' methods.

Error message tweak in Command.set_option().
Added Command.get_peer_option().
Added Command.move_file() wrapper.

we no longer explicitly pull distribution options out of our Distribution
object, but rather let the Distribution put them into the command object.

  attributes, etc.  Biggest change was to the Distribution constructor
  -- it now looks for an 'options' attribute, which contains values
  (options) that are explicitly farmed out to the commands.  Also,
  certain options supplied to Distribution (ie. in the 'setup()' call in
  setup.py) are now "command option aliases", meaning they are dropped
  right into a certain command rather than being distribution options.
  This is handled by a new Distribution class attribute,
  'alias_options'.
Various comment changes to reflect the new way-of-thinking.
Added 'get_command_name()' method to Command -- was assuming its
  existence all along as 'command_name()', so changed the code that
  needs it to call 'get_command_name()'.

Ditched redundant '_gen_preprocess_options()' and '_gen_lib_options()'
  -- now provided by ccompiler.py.
Fixed some filename extension variables -- added missing period.
Cosmetic tweaks.

  now provided (minus the leading underscore) by the ccompiler module.
Fix 'compile()' to return the list of object files generated.
Cosmetic tweaks/delete cruft.

Added big comment about the kludginess of passing 'build_options'
  to the link methods and how to fix it.
Added 'gen_preprocess_options()' and 'gen_lib_options()' convenience
  functions -- the two cases are very similar for Unix C Compilers and
  VC++, so I figured I might as well unify the implementations.

Apparently os.name is "nt" or "posix" or we don't care.
Cosmetic tweaks.

for MSVCCompiler.

  - fix some broken abstract methods
  - kludge: add 'build_info' parameter to link methods
  - add 'object_name()' and 'shared_library_name()'
  - support for MSVCCompiler class on NT/Win95